2009

David first ran for Mayor of Binghamton in 2009, attempting to unseat incumbent Matthew T. Ryan. In the general election, David ran on the Republican and Conservative lines against Ryan, who ran on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines, and third-party candidate Douglas Walter Drazen. David came in second place in the three-way race.^[6]

2013

In 2013, four years after he had lost to Ryan, David again ran for Mayor of Binghamton. In the Republican primary, David received 939 votes—61 percent—beating challengers Douglas Walter Drazen with 433 votes and Edward Hickey with 164 votes.^[7] In the general election, David beat Democratic Binghamton City Councilwoman Teri Rennia by 6.79% and was elected Mayor of Binghamton.^[6]

2017

In 2017, Rich David ran on the Republican, Conservative, and Independence lines for reelection as Mayor of Binghamton. He was challenged by former Deputy Mayor Tarik Abdelazim, who ran on the Democratic and Working Families lines.

Law enforcement

One of David's major campaign promises was to increase the number of officers in the Binghamton Police Department which had been cut by 14 percent during the Ryan administration. David restored seven officers in his first year in office.^[9]

Infrastructure

In 2014, Binghamton's $7 million infrastructure plan improved more than 11 center line miles of city streets. In 2015, city was set to receive 15 miles of street improvements as part of a $8 million plan.^[10]

In 2015, David initiated a $4 million plan to convert the city's roughly 7,000 streetlights to LED technology.^[11]

Budget management

As part of David's push for municipal budget stability, his first budget included a 0.48 percent residential property tax increase, the second-lowest increase in 17 years.^[12][13]